CREATURE FEATURE : Jet Jaguar

Jet Jaguar (ジェットジャガー Jetto Jagā) is a fictional character who appears in the Godzilla film Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973).

History
Created from the brilliant mind of Goro Ibuki, Jet Jaguar represented the advancement of technology to its utmost. Working in secret in his lab, the inventor's triumphs didn't go unnoticed. Watching from a distance, agents of Seatopia awaited for their chance to capture the scientist and take hold of the marvelous robot. Lying in shrouding mystery, they awaited to spring their trap at last. Seizing hold of the man and a small boy, they sought to bring him to the undersea kingdom, until the rising Megalon revealed its ghastly face. Unknowingly setting free the humans, the insect raged into its set path, dumbly following the Seatopia controlled Jet Jaguar. Only by using his medallion with its built in override voice command, was Goro able to overthrow Seatopia's control. Witnessing the threat at hand, the inventor immediately ordered the humanoid robot to retrieve Godzilla from the devastated Monster Island. Flying at an unimaginable speed of over mach three, the machine accomplished its mission as it flew ahead of the nuclear saurian that it had summoned.

Instead of obeying the voice override once it returned, though, the metallic warrior dipped into the recesses of its programming and began to operate on its own accord. Seeing the danger that Megalon possessed to life, the machine grew to match the insect's own daunting stature and proceeded to face the creature. Matching and overcoming each tactical move of the Seatopian god, it seemed that the giant would win the day, until another entered the fray. Swooping down from the lisping clouds, the cyborg Gigan stole the victory. Adding its tremendous power to Megalon's, the creatures overtook the robot in a matter of minutes. It wasn't until the summoned Godzilla's arrived did Earth breath a sigh of relief. Fighting back against the duo, Jet Jaguar and Godzilla pushed back the two demons into retreat. Following in an impressive show of intelligence, Godzilla and Jet Jaguar shook hands, the machine showing his gratitude. Watching the dorsal finned behemoth leave, the humanoid robot shrank back down to size, and once again reverted to being controlled through its voice control system. The survival program now lay dormant that Earth is safe.

Origins
Jet Jaguar was the result of a contest Toho had in mid-to-late 1972 for fans to come up with a new hero for them to use (to capitalize on the many tokusatsu and anime superhero and super robot shows that were all the rage at the time). The winner of the contest submitted the drawing of a robot called Red Alone. The robot resembled Ultraman, Spectreman, and Mazinger Z (all of which were very popular at the time). The robot was renamed Jet Jaguar and was set to star in a film vehicle for him, titled Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon, which pitted him against Megalon (a previously unused Godzilla villain). However, Toho figured Jet Jaguar would not be able to carry the film on his own, in screen appearance or marketing value, so during pre-production, even after doing some tests and storyboards, the project was shut down for several weeks, until screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa was called in to rewrite the script to add Godzilla and Gigan to have more marquee value. The resulting film, Godzilla vs. Megalon, paired Godzilla with Jet Jaguar against both Megalon and Gigan.

Film Appearances
Godzilla vs. Megalon

Other appearances
Jet Jaguar appears in the video games Godzilla Trading Battle (1998), Godzilla: Save the Earth (2004), Godzilla: Unleashed (2007), and Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash (2007).